Council Bluffs council member arrested in prostitution sting

A Council Bluffs city council member was among several men arrested in a prostitution sting Tuesday in the southwestern Iowa city. Forty-one-year-old Darren Bates was elected to the city council in 2005 and is seeking re-election. Shelly Sedlak, Pottawattamie County’s assistant county attorney, says Bates is among six suspects who were picked up by law enforcement.

Sedlak says, “They did a reverse prostitution sting at a hotel on February 3rd.” In addition to his Council Bluffs city council post, Bates is an Omaha fire captain and president of the Omaha Firefighters’ Union. Sedlak says Bates’ first court appearance will be February 10th.

She says, “Basically, it will go through the court system and there will be an initial appearance.” All six men are charged with solicitation of prostitution, an aggravated misdemeanor. Bates is married and has two children. The others arrested in the sting are identified as: Jonathan Aquino of Omaha, Daniel Regan of Gretna, Nebraska, Michael Burnett of Omaha, Dennis Martin of Murray, Nebraska, and Daniel Lynch of Glenwood, Iowa. All six are scheduled to be in court next week.